We are staying in a hotel we have stayed in many times before – the Aqua Wave. It was not always the 'aqua wave'. That came after it was remodeled. We can't remember its old name, but it's much nicer now.

The veiw from our window/balcony in the daylight is nice:

We can see the ocean off to the right. The short white hotel with the gray roof is the Sheraton Moana Surfrider where we went for cocktails last night. Over the left if you look close between the buildings, you can see the peak of Diamond Head.

We slept in a bit and then went for a walk along the beach…

We went to Starbucks where I resisted buying a mug. We've looked at various sites and books to see what we might want to do today while Karen and Hunt are off to Pearl Harbor and the Missouri and other related historical sites. We've our grass beach mats and it looks like we're going to the beach for the morning. Might ride The Bus later today to see what we can see.

It's funny. On Maui and Kauai it is easy to be in vacation mode. It's harder for me here. We are definitely back in civilization and the pace has picked up. I think we are going to Waimea Bay tomorrow and I'm looking forward to that. It's more un-plugged.

It is hard to leave Kauai, especially when you know that it is a fast jump back into civilization. Our flight was on time, and short. Hunt and I took the shuttle to Hertz to get the car and that's when the trouble began. We were first in line, got the paperwork done and then they sent us outside to wait for our name to be called. Turns out that they were out of cars and had way too many people signed up. I half expected a riot as more buses showed up and the wait exceeded an hour.

We weren't the first to think of it but neither were we the last. Other rental car companies had cars and were within walking distance. Hello, Enterprise! It took us about an hour to figure it out and get it done but we did get a car and cancel the other one. And then we went to get Karen and Steve and the bags from baggage claim. Their wait was probably worse because they were just waiting on us to get it done.

The traffic from the airport was not bad for Honolulu. We got to the hotel and the parking lot was sort of full. I parked us once and then Hunt was able to move to a better spot soon. It took a while to check into the Aqua Wave but our rooms are very nice. It's odd not to be sharing a condo with Karen and Hunt. 

We all met in the lobby shortly after checking in to go to our favorite end of day bar – the one around the banyon tree at the Ala Moana Surfrider Hotel. I got my favorite drink (a tropical itch) that has lots of rum and a backscratcher. I should have taken a photo. Didn't. I suppose I'll need to go back and get another!

There was live music and then there was an Asian drum show – with dancing! The drummers were all ages and I have to say the the little kids were so very cute. Everyone was talented:

As I stood and watched, others also moved in to watch and take photos. And videos. Many were in beach garb. Remember the photo of the man who might have been a plumber at the beach? Well, he is not alone.

In many beach bars there are signs that say cover-ups are required. I will never again question those signs.

In other news Waikiki itself looks better than I've ever seen it. Fresher, newer. Even the International Marketplace is cleaner. After we all calmed down from the rental car experience, we walked Karen and Hunt to the beach for a first look:

We walked to Keoni's for a thai dinner. it was very good! Then we headed back toward the hotel. When you ar here for the first time, it can be overwhelming. 

Steve and I are back in our hotel for the night. Here's our night view:

There is live music (loud) way down there. We sleep with earplugs for which I am grateful. 

Tomorrow Hunt and Karen are headed to the Arizona Memorial and more. They will have a great time. We've been there more than once and so we are planning to chill on the beach and in Waikiki. No car, no plans, that sounds really good to us. I'll take pictures. They could be boring :-).

Karen came with 3 knee braces and she loaned me one. Yay! I went on the hike. Two miles in, two out to a stream. 

This is a strenuous hike. A little easier than yesterday, and only half as long but still – it got our attention.

It was sunny, and rainy. Dry, and muddy. Rocky, and slippery. Up hill half the time and downhill the rest. Hunt made a short video…

I found uphill to be much easier than downhill. Certainly it was easier on my knees. And I felt much safer going up because the footing was better.

There are all kinds of warning signs as you approach the stream. The funny thing was that I never saw them on the way down. I was too busy looking at where to put my feet. Truly, one misstep and you could fall to your death. I don't think that happens often but I didn't want to set an example.

This next sign has the count of visitors who have died (82) swimming in the ocean at the end of the stream. 

The stream bed if full of boulders and rocks. We didn't cross the stream but instead followed this path of boulders along side down to the beach.

It was a nice place to rest and have a snack. The ocean was calmer today than I have ever seen it but none of us were willing to risk death by swimming.

And then Hunt got hot and decided to risk it…

Not really. We didn't even wade into that pool of fresh water between us and the ocean.

The views of the coast were spectacular and worth the effort it took to see them. We finished the hike around noon and ate lunch at Ke'e beach. We swam, then headed back to town. We got to see the Aldrine Guerrero and Arron Nakamura (the Ukulele Underground) again. They were great! If you ever get a chance to see them play, do it!

We went on a hike that Steve and I have done several times. We knew in advance that it is slick, muddy, up and down, and in some places down-right crazy. Like this:

Trust me when I tell you that it is worse than it looks. The trail gets your attention going up and I think it is worse going down. Here, the trail up is to the far right…

We were lucky on to see lovely scenery on the way in. This is one reason why this is such a cool hike.

There is boardwalk…

And many, many stairs…

And there was a stream to cross…

And there was an alpine swamp. This is the wettest spot in the world and I should not have been surprised when blue sky turned into a cloud. A rainy, windy drippy cloud that we walked through. I didn't mention it, but it's chilly up here.

The overlook at the end of the trail is spectacular when you can see it. We only saw mist. Too bad, so sad. We walked back. 

Karen and Hunt are theatrical (and musical). Karen decided that she wanted to do a short video ala 'Blair Witch' on the way out. I don't know if you will like it, but we laughed until we cried when we got back and saw it…

Today's hike is 4 miles in and 4 miles out. It took us about 6 hours, including stops to take pictures and have lunch. We did not view this as a race – we took our time. Even with all of that, on the way back my knee let me know that it was not happy. I made it and I can walk but I am not going on tomorrow's hike. I've done the Napali Coast hike before, I hate to miss it, but I would hate it worse if the rescue squad had to carry me out. Instead, I will sit on the beach and think happy thoughts.

On the way back to our condo we stopped at Waimea Canyon, the grand canyon of Hawaii. It is lovely but I've seen both canyons and this is not really a 'Grand Canyon'. it is, however, very spectacular for an island canyon.

We have one more day on Kauai, tomorrow. It should be a lovely day…

I thought today would be rainy and gray and not exactly great. Silly me. 

We drove to Ke'e beach, at the far end of the road that goes north, then west around the NW side of the island. We will go this way again in a couple of days to hike the Napali Coast. Today was a beach day. We got there in time to find a parking space, close. The beach got more crowded as the day wore on, but it was amazing. In addition to people, there were lots of (free range) chickens. And roosters. And baby chickens…

Folks, if you have body issues, you really need to come to the beaches on Hawaii. Yes, there are some lovely bodies. But way more than half of what you see are exactly what you would see if you walked through Walmart and saw everyone in a swimsuit. It's amazing what becomes normal. That said, this guy really needed to pull up his trunks. I joked that he must be a plumber, but plumbers everywhere might disagree that they have been unjustly profiled…

In all seriousness, we women need to let go of what we look like in a bathing suit and just enjoy life. Here's Hunt, in the water at the beach area. In the winter, this beach is way too rough to swim in. Today, there was a protected area that was perfect. Outside of that and you were risking death. 

We walked down the beach, away from here to see what there was to see. When we turned around, this was the spectacular view…

After lunch we headed back toward 'home'. On the way we stopped at Hanalei beach to wave to Lola and Elanor…

We messed around for a while more (Karen and I shopped for earrings) and then we went to see the Ukulele Underground play for happy hour. 2 hours of what turned out to be the most fun EVER!

Aldrine Guerrrero is playing the ukulele, and Aaron Nakamura is on the guitar. They formed Ukulele Underground and have taugh thousands of people how to play the ukulele over the internet. Hunt is one of these folks and he was so very, very happy to be there for a live performance.

I went thinking that it would be 'nice'. I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I wasn't alone. Everyone was loving it and I could not help but take this photo of the family next to us:

Here are Aldrine and Aaron with Hunt…

They play again Friday night at another place and we four will be there.

PS – Hi, Mom. We're fine. We'll be hiking on Thursday and Friday. I'll post pictures so you can see :-).

Hunt shopped for, and bought, a ukulele! Truth be told, as I was choosing photos for this post I realized that Hunt was in most of them – so let's see today through Hunt's day!

I'm not counting, but this is Hunt's 2nd new uke :-). He is a happy, happy man.

Hunt is also incredibly fond of chickens. Kauai is chicken heaven. We went to Spouting Horn and Hunt became the chicken whisperer…

There are chicken, and roosters, all over Kauai. Look at the mama chicken below. There are chicks around her…

I count 5, or 6. They blend in. I asked Steve is this was chick season and we both thought about it. We think it is always chick season. I'm not sure why we aren't stepping on chickens everywhere we go.

Poipu Beach is usually a great place to swim on Kauai. Flossie had an impact today. There was a small area to swim, but we didn't. This was the adjacent beach…

There was one spot around the bend from Poipu where you can see what sort of waves were out there. Just to the left of this 4 kids were out on boogie boards. Nuts.

We shopped and looked at nature today instead of getting into nature. FYI – The Walmart in Lihue has great hawaiian shirts. Made in Hawaii even. I also bought some earrings in Koloa Town that have a good aura. Or something like that. Not being able to see auras (or chakras) myself, I just like the orange color with the little colorful beads above.

Karen took this photo of Hunt early today. We all agreed that he looked the best in all of the pics today. Every one of me was very delete-able. Steve and Karen too. Tomorrow the rest of us are going to have to work harder :-).